On Friday, dozens of scientists turned out to the Rhode Island State House to protest large scale cuts to science funding by the Trump administration. The protest was one of many such “Stand Up For Science” rallies across the country.
The rally in Providence included many scientists who said they had either lost their jobs as a result of recent Department of Government Efficiency terminations, or have lost funding for their research projects.
Sarah Salois is a biologist who lost her job with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week. She’s a Rhode Island member of the NOAA fisheries’ “Squid Squad”– a group of scientists and fishing industry members who worked to track shifting and elusive squid population numbers in the Northeast until many of their positions were cut last week and the program put on hold. Salois said she came to the rally, in part, because she is angered by cuts like these from the Trump administration.
“One hundred percent, I believe in science always, but I’m especially enraged right now that there are so many cuts to such important programs and taking away all the momentum that was being built,” she said. “Especially with some of the probationary workers. They’re important, and they’re affecting change and have really big, exciting projects, and it’s just devastating and a massive loss.”
Salois’ friend held up a sign with a longfin purple squid that read “Save the Squid Squad!”
Since his inauguration, Pres. Trump has sought to cut funding for National Institutes of Health and USAID, and has widely scaled back scientific agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Environmental Protection. Some of Trump’s actions have been blocked by courts, but many jobs have been cut with no plan to bring the positions back.
Scientists at the rally held up colorful signs that shook against the strong wind. They listened to speeches of other scientists and circled the State House building chanting “Rhode Island Stands up For Science” as a tubist played along to the beat.
Other scientists attended the rally from Brown University, including Jenna Zuromski, a postdoc, and Neeva Young, a PhD student, both of whom were working on projects about malaria that were affected by funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health. They wore white lab jackets decorated with iron on patches, including patches of flags representing the countries where they’ve worked, and where they say malaria is in danger of spreading.
“I was putting new patches on my back, and now that is all in question, and it would be an absolute shame to see this happen and for us not to be able to fight against that,” said Zuromski.
